Hopfest | Legend Brewing Co.

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Notes / Commercial Description:
Legend Hopfest begins with a sturdy barley malt background including Munich and aromatic malts, as well as a few medium kilned malts producing a rich , deep orange colored beer. Step two, the hops; Hopfest sports a distinct pine/fruit aroma. Expect an intensely flavored brew, with hop flavor lasting throughout. There is a toasty, earthy background, adding a rich, malty dimension to the long finish. The end result is a full flavored IPA with a strong malt backbone and long satisfying hop finish.

More User Reviews:

Pours into a standard pint glass a clear brass color with a minimal head that is gone pretty quickly.Sharp citric hops over top of a big sweet caramel base,a tinge of sweet alcohol is there as well.Citric fruity hops really hit nicely at the onset then flavors meld into a caramel/biscuit maltiness that holds up pretty well to the hops and lingers.A very flavorful APA,it's big but doesn't really feel it much,pretty damn good.

I renewed my love of hops this Valentine's Day with a 22 ounce bomber of Hopfest Ale. Poured vigorously into a snifter. Three fingers of foamy, beige head slowly tapers off to a clump, not quite covering the glass, and leaving slight lacing. Color is a deep dark orange.

Scent is soft and seductive, sensual even. Seriously...piney hops are combined with an overwhelming cherry aroma. Very sweet, thick, pleasant smell. It took me 5 minutes to even taste the beer.

With an aroma so strong, I was imagining a flavor akin to a Double Simcoe IPA, but am soon reminded that this is truly a pale ale. To that end, it tastes about right. But at 7.3%, I was hoping for a little more body. It certainly doesn't taste as strong as it is, making drinkability not an issue, like an Oktoberfest IPA. Brilliant!

Some grapefruit on the tongue and faint residual caramel flavors but mostly raw bitterness. Thin mouthfeel, true to a pale ale but if this beer tasted like it smelled it'd be a beauty.

Freshly acquired from Bleedingshrimp...new to the trading scene but excellent right from the start.
A clear but carbonated mahogany color with two full fingers of aerated off-white head...a third of it disappears to produce some thin, web-like lacing...the rest holds strong for most of the snifter.
Gentle whiffs of carmelized malt, sweet butter, cotton candy and some carbonation.
The taste is very nice...plenty of hops up front and in the finish to justify the name and a generous amount of malt to sweeten it up and balance it out.
Mouthfeel is a tad thin and again, the carbonation is a bit high for me...regardless, goes down quite easy. Could be a bit cleaner in the finish...the malt flavor sticks around a bit too long IMO.
Another nice offering from Legend...I like their bomber line very much.

Appearance: A nice golden color with some amber in it depending on the light. Very nice lacing and huge head that billows throughout the sipping.

Smell: One of the seemingly freshest hop aromas I've had the pleasure to take in. I don't smoke a lot of pot, the aroma is very much like fresh and top quality marijuana, before smoked of course. Still, there doesn't seem to be as much complexity as I'd like, as there's a leafy, oily, and pungent aroma of citrus and pine, but it could be a lot more amazing I think, more nuanced, more wild.

Taste: Is this really 7.3%? Crazy. I don't taste alcohol at all, and if someone told me this was 4% I wouldn't be surprised. I originally thought this was an IPA, but it does taste more like an APA, which it is. A nice balance of malt and hops, with the oilyness of the hops taking over a bit, letting the finish hit semi-dry with nice bitterness and citrus.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, a nice fullness and good carbonation.

Drinkability: Once this warmed to room temperature it mellowed out and let the flavors come through a bit more, so I wouldn't suggest drinking it right out of the fridge. Another Legend brew, though, that I enjoy, and would purchase again.

16th anniversary edition, 7% ABV noted on label. Boy, some of these once rookie/newjack craft brewers are starting to get long in the tooth all of a sudden. Great! Happy birthday, Legend.

Pours a half-inch of cream froth, sitting on top of a rusty brown with orange leanings. Remarkable clarity too.

Breezy, super-clean citrus-/rind-like hops in the aroma. Fruity with a clean toffee background. Not tons of depth, but what's in the nose is quite nice.

Once again I'm thinking how clean this is with the first sips, and all the ones thereafter. Potent, bright, fruit-leaning hops have a nice prickly bite, with a cinnamon edge cutting in. Malts are certainly second fiddle here, although there's a mild biscuit-y breadiness acting as a base deep down there. Grassy, nearly astringent bitterness lingers in the finish, as does a sharper dessert-y spice character. This is probably best classified as an IPA, but who cares what it's called. It's just very, very good.

Mouth is appropriately carbonated for the flavor profile; a balancing act between gentleness and sharpness, crisp with a nice stickiness that underscores the grassy bitterness of the finish.

Well, this could be a pale as it is citrus or an English style IPA. Cloudy orange with substantial white head and a nose of orange-tangerine. Easy drinking under-control hoppy with a mix of hops and a caramel backbone. Showpiece pale, or English IPA.

This is a pretty solid APA. I'm impressed that it's 7.30% as an APA. It has a nice malt character with a balanced hop presence. If the malt character was bit more forward (because I'm a sucker for that birthday cake sweetness) I would be really impressed. As it stands, this is a good APA that is probably worth a try.

The taste is a big piney hop bite up front, followed by notes of spice and citrus flavors. This is balanced out by a moderate sized backbone of roasted caramel malts. The mouthfeel has a light medium (I thought that it would be a little bigger considering the ABV) body with a smooth, easy feel and just the tiniest touch of heat in it.

Truely a beer worthy of Legend's 14th Anniversary. This is one tasty and very easy drinking (especially at 7.3%) DIPA.

Pours out a hazy golden color, with some yeast floating around in the bottom of my glass. Huge white head that lingers nicely. Aroma is very hoppy & citrousy, being heavy on the grapefruits. taste is fruity, hoppy & refreshing. Grapefruity mango type hop profile, making this one tasty beer for any hophead. There is a decent malt backbone here too along with some alcohol flavors. The finish is good & bitter. This sure tasted like an IPA to me, if not a double. The only complaint here is the slight soapy taste that I have noticed in most homebrew and brewpub IPA's. If you like hops, pick this one up...